Continuous steam-cooker.



No.'s12,154'. PATENTED' FEB. 6, 1906. R. E. soon & L. 0. STBINHOPF.oomnwous STEAM COOKER.

APPLICATION FILED APB. 1,1905.

3 SHEETSSHEET l.

WITNESSES: g

W ATTORN J95 No. 812,154. PATENTED FEB. 6, 1906. R. E. SCOTT & L. 0.STEINHOPP.

CONTINUOUS STEAM COOKER. APPLICATION 11.21) APB.1.1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

d S x P V '1 INVENTORS B 0% v p A 7%RNE Y5 No. 812,154. PATENTED FEB. 6,1906. R. E. SCOTT & L. 0. STEINHOPF.

CONTINUOUS STEAM COOKER.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 1,1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT E. SCOTT AND I JYMAN OLEIN STEINHOFF, OF SIMOOE, CANADA;

SAID SCOTT ASSIGNOR TO ARTHUR C. LEA, OF SIMCOE, CANADA.

' CONTINUOUS STEAM-COOKER.

are. 812,154.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 6, 1906.

Application filed April 1, 1905. Serial No. 263,333.

.To all whom it may cancer-n..-

Be it known that we, ROBERT E. ScoTT and LYMAN OLEIN STEINHQFF, of thetown of Simcoe, in the county of'Norfolk, Province of Ontario, Canada,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Continuous SteamCookers, of which the following is a specification.

The object of our invention is to devise means for continuously carryingon the cookirg of canned goods in an economical and e cient manner; andit consists, essentially,

of one or more cylindrical steam-retorts, each bar to whic In thedrawings like letters of reference mdicate corresponding parts in thedifferent rovided with an internal helical rib and of aongitudinally-ribb ed cylindrical carrier journaled within the cylinderand adapted by its rotation to move cans along the helical guidewayformed b the helical rib, means being provided for ceding anddischarging cans, substantially as hereinafter more specificallydescribed, and then definitel claimed.

Figure 1 is an end sectiona elevation of the cooker, showing only oneretort. Fig. 2 is a side sectional elevation on a small scale, showinthree retorts arranged in series. Fig. 3 is a fade view of the feederpartly broken away. Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail showin the sprin-packing of the cylinder of the eeder and t e valves. Fig. 5 is a planview showing the means employed for feeding cans to the cookers. v Fig.6 is a sectional elevation on the line a a in Fig. '5. Fi 7 is asectional detail showing the alr-vent 0 one of the pockets of thefeeder. Fig. 8 is a perspective detail showin part of the helical r1band the it is connected.

es. The fundamental feature of the cooker is the cylindrical retort A,suitably constructed of sheet metal.

it of T iron or steel secured to bars 4%. Thus the rib may beinserted inthe retort andcarried round and round the retort alon the helicalguideway formed by the helical rib B, and finally discharged through.the exit I). To force the cans around the helical uidewa with the leastpossibility of 'amnung, it is esirable that the ribs 0 should cross therib B substantially at right angles thereto, as indicated in Fig. 2.Steam of course will be admitted to the retorts through any suitablepipe, such as U. 11 order to kee the cans for a sufficient length oftime un er the heating influence of the steam, while retaining thecapacityfor a large output, it is preferable to arrange two ormore'retorts in series one above the other, the outlet of onedischarging into the. inlet of the next retort in the series. (See Fig.2.)

Suitable gearing must of course be procharge.

The feedin apparatus comprises a cylindrical casing T), communicatingwith the inlet a of the up er retort and provided at its upper side withan inlet-hopper E. Within the casing is journaled a c linder F, rovidedwith peripheral pockets each a apted to receive a can on its side. Eachpocket is provided with a swing-valve H, pivoted at one side of eachpocket near the periphery of the cylinder. The opposite side of thepocket is formed on an are constructed from the pivot of theswing-valve, and the end of the valve is preferably rovided with anysuitable packing e, where y it may be given from one to the other and soto the final disa steam-tight contact with the curved side of v I I s ine of each swing-valve projects out.

pockets G after'the can has been discharged through the openin a, so asto force the steam out of the poo et, and thus prevent it being carriedaround and wasted through the inlet-hopper. To give the valves thismotion and to open them again to receive the cans from the inlet-hopper,the mechanism shown 3 isprovided. It will be seen that the t ough theend of the casing and has an arm I secured thereto. Of course eachspindle must be suitably acked where it comes through the end 0 thecasing in order to make a steam-ti ht joint.

cam J is suitably supported on the casing in such a position as to enage each arm I as it is brought around by t e revolution of thecylinder, and thus throw the swing-valves to the ositions indicated atthe lower ri ht ban in Fig. 1. Kis another cam secure to the upper partof the casing ofthe feeder and adapted to engage the arms I to cause thevalves to'resume the open position toreceive the cans: As the back .ofeach ocket is oppn to the atmosphere, as already escribed, W

en a swing-valve is moved to shut outthe steam it merely has to overcomethe steampressure and does 'not tend to form a vacuum behind itself, norwill it compress the air when moving in the contrary direction.

Any suitable mechanical means may be provided to form a steam-tightjoint between the ends ofthe cylinder F and the casin D. The latter isalso preferably made in ha ves secured together, as shown.Spring-packing 1' is also preferably provided in the cylinder F betweenthe pockets G to give the cylinder a steam-tight bearing against theperiphery of the casing D.

It is preferable to duplicate the valve-operating parts at each side ofthe feeder-casing. (See Fig. 2.) V

v The discharge is bestseen in Fig. 1. It comprises a segmentalcylindrical casing L, within which is journaled a steam-tight cylinderM, provided with peripheral pockets N. The spindle 7c of this cylinder Mis preferably provided with adjustable bearings, as shown, in order totake up any wear between the cylinder and the periphery of the casing. Awater-pipe lfpreferably communicates with the interior 0 the segmentalcasing adjacent to thecommunication between the casing and Y thedischarge-aperture b of the retort above it. Ordinarily \the water ofcondensation from the retorts will fill that portion of each pocketwhich is not filled by the can, and

The endof each arm I is provide with africtional roller t. Av

, machine.

thus the escape of steam will be prevented; but through the pipe I Watermay be introduced into the pockets, if necessary, to supply anydeficiency of. water of condensation and brin its level above thecylinder M. The spin le 7c of the discharge-cylinder will be geared tothe rotary cylinders of the leto'rts, as shown in Fig. 2. On the spindlek, or any of the other s indles of the apparatus, suitable driving-puleys maybe located.

From the construction described it follows that cans may be introducedinto the apparatus without permitting the escape of steam and thatthe-cans may be conveyed through the apparatus in suflicient quantitiesto give the machine a lar e output while giving them sufficient time toecome thoroughly cooked,

and ultimately discharged without permitting escape of steam or otherloss than the water of condensation- The arrangement of the gearingshown may be widely varied without departing from the s irit of theinvention.

To enab e the apparatus to cope with the output of the can-toppingmachine usually employed in canneries for sealing the cans,

it is preferable to employ the conveying mechanism shown in Fig. 5. Inthis figure, O is the endless conveyer, supposed to be bringing cans ontheir ends from the topping- This conveyer leads between two otherendless conveyers P, each of which leads to the hopper E of a cooker.-On a suitable support adjacent to the end of the conveyer O is pivotedan arm R. From this. arm extends a short arm m, connected by the pitmannwith a crank 0,-fastened on the end of the spindle p of the end drum orcarrying-wheel of the endless conveyer O.

From this constructionit follows that the arm R-isreciprocated'synchronously with the movements of the-conveyer 0. .Thusthe cans as brought up by the conveyer are knocked by the armalternately to the right and left. As the arm is arranged to strike nearthe top of the can, it tends to throw the can over onto its side intoreceptacles S, carried by the conveyers I. These receptacles,

I'IO

it will be seen, have somewhat flaring.

months, so that they easily receive a can and tend to straighten'it outinto a position exactly transverse to the conveyer.

In order to insure a can falling over onto its side, a

stop T is provided at each side of'the conveyer O, which catches thebottom of the can,

and thus holds it baokwhile the arm is throwing over the top of the can.As the cans may not be exactly centered on the conveyers I, we provideguides r with flaring mouths, one for each conveyer. These catch thecans and center them exactly on the belt, so- 'that each.

dro ped into the hoppers E- he dischar ecylinder M may be arranged abovethe en less conveyer .O, eitherin. or

can is in exactly the proper position to be to open and close theperipheral opening of said pocket; and means for opening each of saidvalves to receive a can and for closing it immediately after thedischarge of a can, substantially as described.

2. Feeding means for a cannery cooker com risinga cylindrical casingwith inlet and disc arge apertures therein, in combination with asteam-tight cylinder journaled therein and provided with peri heralpockets adapted to contain cans; va ves adapted to open and close theeripheral openin s' of said pockets; means or opening each 0 said "alvesto receive a can and for closing it immediately after the discharge of acan; and

means for forming a communication between the outer air and the ocketbehind each valve, substantially as escribed.

3. Discharge means for a cannery-cooker comprising a cylindricalsegment-casing with an inlet-aperture at the top, in combination with asteam-tight cylinder journaled therein and provided with peripheralpockets adapted to contain cans and a sufficiency of water 'to shut outthe steam in the cooker; and means for sup lyin water to each pocketbefore it reaches t e in et-aperture, substantially as described.

4. Feeding means for a cannery-cooker comprising a cylindrical casingwith inlet and discharge apertures therein, in combination with asteam-tight cylinder journaled therein and provided with peripheralockets adapted to contain cans; a swing-vaiire pivoter riphery of thecylinder, the opposite side of the pocket being formed on the arc of acircle.

struck with the pivot of the valve as a cen- 'ter; and means for openingeach of said valves to receive a can and for closing it immediatelyafter the discharge of a can, substantially as described.

5. A cannery-cooker provided with a receiving-hopper; and an endlessconveyer disat one side of each pocket near the pe-' charging into saidhopper and providedgwith receptacles adapted to receive cans, incombination with a second conveyer parallel to and close beside thefirst and adapted to bring cans on end; and means timed withthe secondconveyer for knocking a can off the said conveyer onto its side in oneof the re ceptacles of the first conveyer, substantially as described.

6. Two cannery-cookers, each provided with a receiving-hop er; endlessconve ers discharging into the libppers of the coo ers and provided withreceptacles adapted to receive cans, in combination with a secondendless conveyer leading'to a point between the first two; and an armoperated from the second conveyer and adapted to alternately sweep cansonto the two first conveyers, substantially as described.

7. Two cannery cookers, each provided with a receiving-hop er; endlessconveyers dischargin into the lioppers of the cookers and provi ed withreceptacles adapted to receive cans on their sides, in combination witha second endless conveyer leading to a point between the first two; anarm operated from the second conveyer and adapted to alternately sweepcans onto the first two conveyers and bottom stops adapted to catch thebottom edges of the cans to insure their falling on their sides on theconveyers, substantially as described. a

8. Two cannery cookers, each provided with a receiving-hopper; endlessconveyers discharging into the hoppers of the cookers and provided withreceptacles adapted to receive cans on their sides, in combination witha second endless conveyer leading to a point between the first two; anarm operated from the second conveyer and adapted to alternately sweepcans onto the first two conveyers; bottom stops adapted to catch thebottom edges of the cans to insure their falling on their sides on theconveyers; and guides adjacent to each of the second conveyers adaptedto center the cans on the conveyer, substantially as described.-

Simcoe, Ontario, March 25, 1905.

ROBERT E. SCOTT. LYMAN OIJEIN STEINHOFF.

"In presence of- A. C. LEA, J. PORTER.

